Wigneswaran thanks Jayalalithaa, but confused on Geneva

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2015, 15:07 GMT]“It is a happy news to us that Selvi Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu has been very forthright in coming out with a resolution accepting what we had passed a few days ago on 01 September 2015 and bringing a very strong message to the Indian government asking them to take all possible steps in order to see that an international mechanism is formulated to hear the war crimes with regards to Sri Lanka,” NPC Chief Minister Justice Wigneswaran told media in Jaffna on Wednesday. However, he was confused in welcoming OHCHR position on OISL with the same spirit of welcoming the Tamil Nadu resolution.

Mr Wigneswaran, considering the OHCHR briefing as equally a happy news, however said that he is still not clear whether the recommendation is hybrid mechanism or international mechanism.

“Some news reports say that it is hybrid court that has been recommended, some say an international court. I am not too sure. It is too soon for me to know what exactly was the order. But, anyway, the fact remains that it has been accepted by the world body that an international mechanism is absolutely necessary in the background of the various shortcomings that the Sri Lankan judiciary has been experiencing,” Mr Wigneswaran said.

CV Wigneswaran

Earlier this month, passing a resolution at NPC, for international investigations on genocide, Mr Wigneswaran had cited the discourse of the IIGEP in arguing that a domestic mechanism even with international participation would not work.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Zeid has categorically stated on Wednesday that the recommendation is for a hybrid mechanism.

Thanking Ms Jayalalithaa on Wednesday, Mr Wignesaran further said: “We thank Selvi Jayalalithaa for the extreme concern that she has shown with regards to the Sri Lankan Tamils and it augurs well for the future that there is a happy sense of togetherness, which has been brought in among all the Tamils all over the world, especially from South India and from the Tamils of Sri Lanka.”